Does anyone use Google calendar in their band to keep track of things.

hollywoodrox

As stated does anyone use Google Calendar amongst their band ?
  For example each band member puts in dates when they are unavailable to play
  and the dates for each gig are shared amongst them  so each member can check when gigs are
  and should a chance to book a gig off the cuff arise they can check availability of the whole band.

would this be easy to set up 

Jonathangus

We've just started using Band Mule: https://www.bandmule.com/

Gives you a calendar, band member availability and a song library (which enables you to build set lists, which can be saved to PDF and printed).  Also rudimentary chat, but WhatsApp is better for that.

hollywoodrox

Jonathangus said:

We've just started using Band Mule: https://www.bandmule.com/

Gives you a calendar, band member availability and a song library (which enables you to build set lists, which can be saved to PDF and printed).  Also rudimentary chat, but WhatsApp is better for that.

That sounds real cool ,will check it out , I’m guessing there’s a cost involved though 

hollywoodrox

Omg band mule is free !!!  That’s great. Is it reasonably easy to set up for everybody 
  Thanks so much for this 

Jonathangus

Yeah, you just need their email address.  Dead simple.

hollywoodrox

Jonathangus said:

Yeah, you just need their email address.  Dead simple.

That’s fantastic ,thank you very much 

merlin

We use teamup.com

markslade07

I've tried to use a Google calendar, and also a TimeTree one, which I thought was quite useful....but you know....other bandmates! You can lead a horse to water....! 

Roland

We abandoned Google calendar because it proved unreliable when devices changed, or needed updating. Instead we use an Apple calendar.

bloodandtears

yeah.. 3 of us on Android.. a shared calendar.. using colour codes to identify people and purpose.. no issues here...

shufflebeat

We (I) struggled with Band Mule because life is too complicated to say, "I'm free every night except..." so all events have to be cleared with everyone, mostly on a group Signal chat.

rze99

Doodlepoll + Whatsapp (https://doodle.com/en/)

Helpful but not that great. The issue is that everyone has their own personal diary, their work diary and the diaries of their family members to consider. Too many variables. 

bobeffect

We use Cozi as a shared band calendar. It's free and works well for us. 

Danny1969

Google calendar seems to work fine for us as you can make an event on your personal calendar and then just copy it to the bands google calendar so they are can see you are unavailable.
Band Mule seemed fine but when we looked at it a few years ago it didn't support a feed to a personal calendar, which kinda made it pointless ... even though it was a great idea in principle

thomasw88

used google calender for a few years.  Occasionally someone will accidentally delete an event which is a tad annoying... 

hollywoodrox

Thank you all for your input appreciate it

Musicwolf

I've been using BandMule with two bands for the last couple of years.  As with all of these Apps they are only as good as the people filling in the data.  At least with BandMule it's on your phone and you've no excuse for not filling it in if something comes up that means you are not available.  We only mark Fridays and Saturdays as green or red, midweek we check because of work.

We made a rule that we don't use the '?' as that's no help whatsoever.  I take the view that if you were a ? and we were offered a gig then you'd have to make a decision there and then - so make it now.  If you think that you've got something else on then mark it red (X) and you can change it if whatever it is doesn't come off.

The only problem with BM is that availability and gigs are not on the same page so you always need to check to avoid double bookings.

Stratavarious

Teamup + Whatsapp or Fleep groups.

John_P

I use Time tree instead of google calendars, easier for everyone to use that app. 

smfacer

Another Time Tree user here, easy for everyone to update (un)availablity. our band policy is 'if you've not marked yourself as unavailable then you must be available!', still double check on whatsapp if there are midweek gigs, or gigs that require an overnight stay

hassleham

yes we do but the system can only be as good as the f***ing useless band members are at being organised.. Not that I have a thorn in my side or anything